Air-ship.



A. E. G. LUBKE.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. Z2.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

ATTO/MIE VS A. E. G. LUBKB.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED 13202211905 936,141. Patented oct. 5, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WHA/ESNN A. E. G. LUBKE.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.22,1908.

Patented Oct. 5. 1909.

SSHEETS-SHBET 3.

v r, I

lan air ship having an aeroplane an a bal- ADOLPH EMIL GUSTAV LUBKE, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AIB-SHIP.

Specication of Letters-Patent.

Patented Oct.. 5, 1909.

Application led December 22, 1908. Serial No. 468,812.

To all 'whom it 'may co'ncem:

Be it known that I, AooLPH E. G. LUBKE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Air-Shi of which the following is a full, clear, an exact descripion.

This invention relates to air ships. `Oneobject of the invention is to rovide loonv or gasba connected therewith, together with an improved `steadying means.

Afurther object is 'to provide a balloon which may be composed of one or more separate gas-bags iiiclosed within a shell or chamber having means for regulating the temperature thereof.

A further object of the invention is to rovide a combined balloon and aeroplane aving depending central and en'd walls, the structure bei substantially T-shaped in transverse sectlon.

A further object is to provide a plurality of vertical propellers at the front and rear of the ship, together with a plurality of pro- Lpeillers mounted to rotate at the sides of the A still further object is to provide a plurality of ropellers which may be `caused to rotate ei er horizontally or vertically.

The invention consists in the construction and combination ofA parts, to be move fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth Vin the claims. A

`Reference is to be had to the' accompanying drawings, formin a rt of this specication, in which simiar c aracters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section,`

artly in elevation, through the air ship;

ig. 2 is a plan view, partially'broken awa to showl the screws for controlling the ru ders and valves; Fi 3 is a section taken ron the line 3-3 o Fig. 1, showin the ineens for controlling the various rope ers; Fig. 4 is a transverse-section, ta en on the lline4---4 in `Fig. 1 showing the side pnopel 1ers as vertical; 5 is .a sectional view of the lower portion of the ship, taken on the same line as Fig. 4, but showing the sidepnopellersfas horizontal. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on an enlarged'scale, taken on the line j in Fig. 5, and showing both positions oa ,Side Fig. 7 is an .enlarged detail view, partly in section, showing theV mechanism associated with one of the hand Wheels for controlling the rudder and valves.

The embodiment of my invention shown 1n the drawings comprises a horizontal plane 1, supporting a post 2 centrally thereof. A

series of tie-rods or wires 4 extend from the dinally midway of the plane 1 and may be secured thereto by braces 6. A transverse vertical wall 8 is secured to the partition 5 nearv its front end, and extends below the lower edge of said partition. A transverse vertical Wall 10 is located at the rear edges of the plane 1' and the partition 5, said wall also extendin below the lower edge of said partition, and secured thereto and to the plane 1. A bottom'or floor 12 connects the end walls 8 and 10, which together constitute the bottom and ends of a car 14. The sides 15 and 16 of the car may be formed of top rails 18 and an intervening latticework 19 of wires or ropes. -The top rails 18 are stayed by means of rods or wires 20, which may pass through eyelets 21 on the plane 1, said rods thus aiding in supporting and steadyin the car 14.

In or er to aid in supporting the ship, I provide a balloon, which may consist of a pluralit of elongated cylindrical gas-bags 2.5. If sired, said bags may be sub-divided into compartments 26 by means of transverse partitions 27.

The balloon is inclosed within a chamber 30 formed by a casing composed of a bottom 31, sides 32 and 33 and ends 34 and 35. Said Vcasing is suitably secured to the underside of the plane 1 by means of bolts. The chamber 30 communicates with pipes 36, 37 and 38, which open at their upper ends into said chamber, and are connected at their tower ends into one pipe 39 having a hood 4() at its lower end, and also a damper 41 for controlling the admission of the air through the same. Said hood 40 is located above the motor 44, which may be of'any desired type, andlthe hot air arising above said motormay be admitted to the 1,pe.39 and from' thence distributed in the amber 30..

The plane 1 may be provided with an .opening 45, which is adapted to be .closed .by a valve 46 Vhaving a stem or post 47 thereon Said stem 47 is pivotally t0 one end .of a rod 48. Said rod is operatively-connected to'a hand-wheel 49, which is mounted within a bearing 50 supported by the wall 5. The rear Aend 35 of the chamber which incloses the gas-bags is provided with an opening 52, adapted to be closed by a valve 53, which is hinged to the wall of the chamber, and may be provided with a depending arm 54, which is pivotally connected to one end of a rod 55. 'The other end of the rod 55 may beprovided with a collar 56 ada ted to co-act with the threads` on the end o therod 48. The construction is such that when the hand-wheel 49 is turned, the valves 46 and 53 are operated to regulate the flow of air through the chama fog-bank or clouds, whichwould tend to reduce the temperature and cause contraction of the balloon. The casing surrounding the balloon may be made of aluminum or any other suitable light material.

In order to aid in the ascension or de scension of the ship, I provide a horizontal rudder 60, which may be attached to the plane 1 by means of hinges 61. A web 62 'depends from the under side of the rudder 60, and has secured thereon a laterally-projecting post 63. Said post is pivotally connected with one end of a rod 64. The other end of said rod 64 is provided with a handwheel 65, which coperates with the threaded portion 66 of said rod, and is supported in a swivel bearing 67 secured to the wall 5. By the manipulation of the hand-wheel 65, therudder 60 may be lraised or depressed with respect to t e plane 1, in order to guide the ship upwardly or downwardly, as desired.

In order to steer the ship laterally, I provide a vertical rudder 70, which may be attached to the rear wall 10 by means of hinges 71, said rudder being in line with the central partition 5. A nost 72 is mounted to project laterally from the said rudder 70, and is pivotally connected to one end of a rod 73. The other end-of the rod 73 is screw-threaded and adapted to coperate with a hand-wheel 74 having a sleeve 75, which is supported within a swivel bracket 76 supported by the wall 5.

The construction of the hand-wheels 49, V and 74 is alike,v and shown in detail in Fig. 7. The bracket 76 is provided with a base 78, which may be fastened to the wall 5. The outer end of the bracket 76 is ed to coperate with the threads 82 on the end of the rod 73. The hand-wheel 74 is secured to the sleeve 81. By this construction, it will be seen that, by turning the hand-wheel' 74, the sleeve 81 is caused to rotate and move the rod 73 longitudinally, the angularity of said rod being compensated for by means of the ball 79, which is rotatably .held within the end ofthe bracket 76.

In order to propel the ship, I provide a motor 44, which may be secured upon the bottom 12 of the car and connected toa longitudinally-extending drivingshaft 85, which is journaled in bearings 86, 87 and 88, also suitably secured to the Hoor or bottom 12 of the car.

I may provide three propellers on the front of the ship, one of which, 90, is secured directly to the driving shaft 85. The other two, 91 and 92, are secured to the shafts vwhich are journaled in bearings 94 and 95 respectively. Theinner ends ofthe propeller shafts are provided with grooved pulleys 96 and 97 respectively, 'over which 'cords or belts 98 and 99 are passed, said belts also. passing over similarly ooved pulleys 100, mounted to rotate with the shaft 85.'L

At the rear of the ship, I may provide two vertical propellers 105 and 106, secured to shafts which are journaled in bearings 107 and 108 respectively. The ends of these pro eller shafts are fitted with grooved pul eys 110 and 111 respectively. Similar grooved pulleys 112 are secured to the driv- -mg shaft 85 and'adaptedto rotate therewith. Belts 114 and 115 are passed over the pulleys 110, 111 and 112, by means of which the propellers 105 and 106 are rotated.

In order to aid in raising the ship', I provide a' series of propellers, numbered 120 to 127 inclusive; which are adapted to be rotated eitherin a horizontal or a vertical plane. they aid in raising the ship, and whenthe ship has risen to the desired height, they are turned so that they may rotate 1n' a vertial plane, to aid in propelling the ship .longitudinally.

The propeller 122 is 4secured to a shaft* When rotated in a horizontal plane,

bearing 130 may be an'anti-friction bearing 12o ed to rotate with the shaft .85, and receives belts 141 and 142, which pass respectively over the grooved pulleys 138 and 139. The rotation of the driving shaft 85 itself causes the rota-tion of the propellers 122 and 123. It will be understood that the construction and'connections for the other ropellers of the series located at the sides o? the same as those described for propellers 122 and 123.

Secured to the shaft 132 is a-collar 144 having a depending arm 145. Each horizontal'shaft146, 147, 148, 149 has a similar arm 145 connected thereto. Each a-rm is provided with an eye 150 at its lower end, through which 'acord 151 passes, said cord being provided with' stops 152 located on opposite sides of the eyes 150. The cord 151 passes over guide pulleys 154 and 155, suitably journaled in bearings supported by the bottom ofthe car. A hand-Wheel 158 is secured to4v a shaft 159 vjournaled in the bearing 87 `and also in a bracket 160 support# ed by the floor 12. A double-grooved pulley 161 is secured 'to rotate with said handwheel, and the cord 151 passes over both portions of thedouble-grooved pulley 161, so that as the vhand-wheel 158 is rotated, the arms 145 will all be' swung inone direction or the other, in order to rotate the shafts to which they are connected and change the plane of rotation of the propellers 120 to 127 inclusive. It will be noted by referring to Figs. 4 and 5 that the driving belts which connect the driving shaft 85 with the various propellers on the side of the ship are adapted to be twisted in orderv to form a quarter-turn drive.

The sleeve 136 has a notch -165 on one end,

which', receives the lug 166 -on the collar 144 in order to limit the rotation of said collar, to determine the horizontal `and vertical positions of the side propellers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new' and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an air ship, the combination of aplane, a casing suspended from said plane, a

gasI bag in said casing, a depending wall midway of said plane, transverse walls at the ends of said depending wall, a horizontal the ship are Y rudder attached to the front end of said plane, a vertical rudder at the rear in line with the depending wall, and means attached to said depending wall and connected with said rudders for operating the same.

2. In an air ship, the combination of a` plane, a casing suspended from said plane, a motor, pipes above said motor communicating vwith said casing, means for controlling the passage of air through said pipes, a valve at the front and `rear ends of said casing, and means for controlling said casing valves.

3. In an air ship, the combination of a plane, a 'casing suspended from said plane, a gas bag formed with separate compartments and inclosed within' said casing, means for supplying heated air to the bottom of said casing, and means for controlling the passage of air through said casing. 4. In an air ship, the combination of a plane, a casing suspended from said plane,`a gas-bag in sald casing, a depending central Wall extending beyond the ends and below said casing, a horizontal rudder pivoted lto the front end of said plane, and a vertical rudder in line with said depending wall.

5. In an air ship, the combination of a plane, a casing suspended from said plane, a gas-bag in sald casing, a depending central wall extending beyond the ends and below said casing, a horizontal rudder pivoted t0 the front end of said plane, a vertical rudder in line with said depending wall, and means for varying the temperature of the contents of said casing.

6. In an air ship, the combination of a plane, a casing suspended from the plane, a gas bag in the casing, a horizontal rudder at the frontend of the plane, a dependin wall midway of the lane, al vertical rud er at the rear of the p ane and in line with the depending Wall, and means attached to the said -wall and connected with the rudders for op- 

